San Juan County’s Auditor, Milene Henley, retires

Milene, you were the best and you will remain so in our memory. I hope you will find other ways to help our community of islands in the future.

Milene Henley is frankly one of the brightest and most dignified persons to ever be elected in San Juan County. Her no nonsense approach to balancing our budget while putting people first was impactful and helped thousands of islanders through making sure everything from public health to parks had the support they needed, but not what they wanted.

On this last point, let me clarify, while other elected officials write their own budgets and the county council ultimately approves the total budget, it is the independently elected County Auditor who pays attention to fiscal sustainability. And… because they are an independently elected official they can stand up publicly and not so subtly remind the county council when they are out of line with their budget – which Milene did often.

Finally, I must add that in this time of fear mongering around elections, it has been a blessing to watch our Auditor – who is also in charge of elections – be a powerful champion of democracy here in our small county – making sure every vote is counted and every voice is heard.

Through all of this however, I think the greatest gift Milene Henley has left us with is the team she has built. From the wonderful people at the counter when you get your license plates renewed, to the brilliant back office budget crunchers to the entire elections team to her replacement and next Auditor, while we will all miss this remarkable public servant, knowing that her team remains should give us all hope for the future of our county.

Thank you Milene for your tremendous and tireless efforts!